Press Review

“Robert Kocharian is pondering on his return to politics,” “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” says, commenting on the latest statements by the former Armenian president made in an interview with RFE/RL. “During his ten-year rule, he accumulated more than $6 billion [worth of personal wealth] and he never explained to anyone why and how he managed to do that. He will never be able to explain that because he missed his chance to explain anything to the people on March 1, 2008.”

“Zhoghovurd” notes that Kocharian’s press secretary, Victor Soghomonian, assured reporters about two months ago that the ex-president will comment on the constitutional amendments drafted by President Serzh Sarkisian’s administration. “But although there is little time remaining before [the constitutional referendum due in] November, the former president is not in a hurry,” says the paper. “In the meantime, Serzh Sarkisian and his political team are trying to impose the following choice on the people: constitutional changes or Kocharian’s return. Naturally, many will prefer the constitutional changes.”

“Zhamanak” reports that President Serzh Sarkisian has announced that he will bring up the latest Azerbaijani truce violations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone at an upcoming summit in Tajikistan of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The paper says that this was the “most noteworthy” statement made by Sarkisian at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin held outside Moscow on Monday. “It is also evident that Serzh Sarkisian will coordinate with Putin any proposal to be made to the CSTO,” it says. “It is very difficult to say what that proposal will be. But it may be that Putin is trying to increase the CSTO’s role in the Karabakh conflict mediation and, perhaps, thereby wrest the initiative from the [OSCE] Minsk Group.”

“Haykakan Zhamanak” discusses the latest shooting incidents on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. “The only factor that could force Azerbaijan to behave itself is a realization that Armenia could take tactical military action aimed at pushing Azerbaijani army positions away from Armenian settlements so much that it will no longer be possible to shoot at them,” writes the paper.